Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Ending
by ultimate unkn0wn
Summary: ARC 1 - Killing School Life: Makoto Naegi had never expected to attend Hope's Peak Academy, but the acceptance letter was not an illusion. With the letter in hand, he approached the school, with dreams of the best two years he would experience yet... But he never expected things to go this way, nor that his life would forever be turned upside down by the Killing School Life...
1. Prologue?

**A/N:** Good day to all you readers! I'm **ultimate unkn0wn** and welcome to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Ending. This fic is something that was sitting in the back of my head as a plotbunny for some time now... I'm sure I'm not the only one dissatisfied with the fact that everyone can't be saved, so I thought, why not write a fic about it? And after writing a bit of it, I decided I may as well post it online.

But you all should know now... This story will not start with everyone living. The first Arc will not be the happy ending. You'll understand once the story progresses why that is so. For now, try not to get upset that the story more or less follows the main storyline... In fact, you can even refer to this first Arc as a **novelization** of the game, with a few original twists.

Well then, I hope you enjoy this teaser of a prologue... Until next time.

 **Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.**

Any words in **bold** refer to words or names that are regarded as important.

Any dialogue in _italics_ and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.

Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.

* * *

 _There is one school known and admired by all. It is the school that puts other schools who dare to attempt achieving its success to shame. The very school in which only students who are the very best, the_ _ **Ultimates**_ _, of their talent may attend. This school is known as_ _ **Hope's Peak Academy**_ _._

 _The school itself is massive, towering over all the other buildings in its vicinity. In fact, some may even say that the school, itself, is the very_ _ **center**_ _of the entire world._

 _And this school is where_ _ **hope**_ _is raised, built up and matured. Truly, it lives up to its name as "Hope's Peak Academy"..._

 _Indeed,_ _ **hope**_ _grew within the walls of this academy, but as_ _ **hope**_ _grew, so, too, did its eternal adversary,_ _ **despair**_ _..._

* * *

"I can't believe I'm actually standing here, in front of Hope's Peak Academy..."

One lone boy, an average-looking boy with plain, brown hair and normal-looking clothes stood before the gates of Hope's Peak Academy, gazing up at the majestic school in al its splendor. He had never dreamt he would actually stand here in front of those gates, but here he was, only minutes away from experiencing what would possibly be the best years of his life...

Not to mention he was more than a little out of place at this school. After all, it was the school that gathered the best of the best... A school where only **Ultimate Students** attended. The boy had done his research beforehand, and felt his confidence diminish as he thought about who else would be attending the school.

After all, he wasn't attending the school because of any real talent. He was just an ordinary high school boy. It was _pure luck_ that he was invited to the school. Literally. There was a lottery to select one ordinary student to attend the academy, and he was the one chosen in that lottery.

"I feel so lost here... But, I can't just stand here in front of the gate forever..."

The brunette glanced down at the acceptance letter in his hand. The letter said that there was an orientation for the incoming students in the **main hall at 8 AM** and while there was still a bit of time until the orientation would begin, he supposed he may as well simply walk in.

"I should probably just head in. Yeah... Yeah, let's do this!"

And with that said, he took his first step towards the main hall. He glanced around, admiring the ceramic floor and the pillars, frowning slightly as he saw that no one else was around. He glanced at an elegant-appearing clock in the corner, noting that it read 7:10 AM.

"Oh jeez, no wonder no one else is here...! The meeting doesn't start until 8 o'clock, so there's still a full 50 minutes left... I was so wound up, I got here way too early..." he sighed, feeling somewhat foolish.

' _I have plenty of time before the meeting. Just standing around waiting isn't exactly... I should take a look around the school. Maybe that'll help me calm down a little_ ,' he thought to himself.

"I _am_ a student here now, so there shouldn't be any problem with me having a look around, right?"

' _It'll help me kill some time, if nothing else. Trying to play it cool, I took my first step into Hope's Peak Academy. It was also my first step toward starting a new life at a new school. At least, that's what I was hoping for._ '

"What the-!?"

The brunette couldn't help but cry out. The instant he took his first step, his vision became twisted and warped, as if everything around him was spinning and spinning. It was like some kind of delusion, melting away and mixing together into something else. Spinning, mixing, melting away, then spinning again... And the next moment...

Everything went black.

That was how it all began... And how life as the boy knew it came to an end.

' _At that point, I should have realized... The reason I was brought to Hope's Peak Academy wasn't because I had_ _ **ultimate good luck**_ _..._ '

' _It was so I could experience_ _ **ultimate despair**_ _._ '


	2. Prologue Pt I: Welcome to Despair

**A/N:** Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to _Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Ending_. I'm your wonderful author, **ultimate unkn0wn**! I'm posting a chapter so soon after the previous one since that one is rather short. I didn't want to leave you all with just that! I do hope this chapter isn't too long, however... It seems I got a bit carried away. Let me know whether you think this length is good or if I should write only half this amount for each chapter in a comment below! (Do know, however, that I will never again write as short as I did with the first chapter.)

Here, we have the first part of the prologue. You may notice that I wrote the intros a bit **interestingly**. There are reasons for that. The first reason is, well, if I wrote every single introduction, this would become extremely long! What fun is there in reading a chapter filled with nothing but introductions? So, to prevent introduction spam, I condensed some of the introductions. The second reason is... For plot purposes. It may not be clear now, but the ones whose introductions were fully written out instead of summarized are important. They will have significant changes to the story.

Also, you may have notices that I changed some of the Ultimate Titles. Why? Simply because some of them flow terribly. I mean, really? "Ultimate Pop Sensation"? "Ultimate Writing Prodigy"? They're so long! I can sort of understand why, but for the sake of keeping a good flow, I changed them up. I'm sorry if this bothers anyone. If popular demand well, demands it, I can revert back to the original titles, but for now, please bear with me.

Next, I do use quite a few Japanese terms throughout the story, and that is because they have no English counterpart. So for the sake of accuracy, I left them as is. If you ever struggle to understand what they are, simply search for them online.

With all of that said, I hope you do enjoy this! The next chapter will feature our beloved mascot, **Monokuma**. Until then, stay tuned!

 **Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.**

Any words in **bold** refer to words or names that are regarded as important.

Any dialogue in _italics_ and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.

Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE Pt. I: Welcome to Despair** 💀

The ticking of a clock was the first thing that permeated his senses as he drifted back to consciousness.

"...Nng?" he murmured, feeling rather disoriented and confused. He sleepily picked up his head, distantly noting that he was seated at a desk and had been lying his head on his arms. "Wh-What...? Where am I?"

' _I woke up with my head resting on top of a hard wooden desk. My body feels...heavy. It's pretty normal for me to zonk off in the middle of some boring class or whatever, but... What was I doing asleep here just now? This isn't a classroom I've ever been in before_ ,' the brunette thought. He glanced around blearily, barely managing to take in his surroundings.

"What the heck is going on...?" the boy said, scratching his head absentmindedly. From the looks of it, he was in an unfamiliar classroom with rather... _flashy_ walls. His gaze traveled around the room before finally resting on something peculiar in the corner of the room.

"Is that...a surveillance camera?"

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, it was indeed a camera attached to the ceiling. The lens was focused on the door, as if to watch for any unwanted visitors. Still, the boy decided to pay it no heed. It was a dangerous world he lived in, after all. The camera was likely necessary to keep out intruders. So, he decided to see what else was in the classroom.

"What the heck...?"

But then, he noticed something even more peculiar than the camera. Where windows would lie in average classrooms, heavy-appearing metal plates were bolted over. The boy walked over to them and rapped his knuckles across the closest plate. The action elicited a hard _**BANG BANG**_ noise, proof that the plates were indeed made of metal.

"Yup. Definitely metal. Thick, too. Very solid," he muttered to himself while nodding.

' _Wait, that's not what matters here. More importantly, why are there metal plates over the windows_?'

Glancing around the room once again, his eyes happened to come across the clock.

' _Jeez, I can't believe it's already 8 o'clock. It was just after 7 when I first got here. Has it really been almost an hour since then_?' he thought, somewhat startled at how quick the time had passed. He must have been asleep for that long... Yet, strangely enough, he didn't really remember ever falling asleep...

Ah, he was probably overthinking it.

To take his mind off of unnecessary things, the brunette continued to examine the room. In the other corner of the classroom, he noticed a TV monitor mounted on the wall just above the board littered with papers and notices.

' _There's a TV..._ '

Certainly enough, it was interesting, but he supposed it wasn't too surprising. After all, Hope's Peak Academy was funded by the national government, so the school had more than enough money to install TV monitors in each classroom.

"Let's see... What else is here?"

Another glance around the room led him back to the desk he had been seated at. He could see a trail of drool that he likely left there.

"...I'll have to clean that up later..." he muttered to himself, somewhat glad that no one else was here to see that. The brunette's eyes were then drawn to an object on the desk that he hadn't noticed earlier. ' _Hey, what's that on the desk_?' he wondered before reaching over and grabbing it. Opening it up, he found that it was a pamphlet of some sort, albeit a rather crude one. There was a doodle of what looked like Hope's Peak Academy in it, though it looked as though a child had drawn it.

"An orientation guide...? It's some kind of cheap-looking pamphlet. And there's something handwritten on it," the boy noted, before he proceeded to read the words aloud. "'Hey there, new kid! The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world.'"

He found himself squinting at the words and it wasn't due to the chicken-scratch handwriting. The brunette turned the pamphlet over and over to see if there was any hidden words saying, "Hah! Fooled ya!" but there was nothing like that. With a frown, the boy said, "What the hell? Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

Now that he'd seen just about everything of note in the room, the boy tried to put together the past events that led to his situation.

"Okay, let's see. So what might have happened is... I got myself so wound up, I passed out in the main hall. And then someone carried me here...? If that's true, it must mean... This is a classroom inside Hope's Peak," he muttered to himself out loud. But, if that was indeed true, it produced more questions than it did answers.

' _This is all really strange. I mean, those metal plates covering the windows... It's like it's a prison or something. None of this makes any sense..._ ' With a sigh, the brunette decided to try heading towards the main hall. It was already past the scheduled time for the orientation, after all, and there were likely other students waiting there. So, after steeling his resolve, the brunette slid open the door and stepped out into the hallway... Only to be even more bewildered than before. The hallway would have appeared as an average hallway, what with its checkered floor and arching corridors, but the pinkness of the main lights gave the area a rather chilling ambience.

"Jeez... This hallway is kind of weird, too," the boy remarked with a suppressed shudder. It was made even more odd by the fact that there were no teachers or students roaming the halls, but then he supposed it was because today was merely the first day. With a look behind him, he noted that he had been in Classroom 1-A. Truly, the boy wondered how he had wound up there, but decided not to think about it. He needed to focus on reaching the main hall, first. Proceeding down the halls, he eventually reached what he assumed was the main hall. The doors creaked open...before revealing an assortment of different people.

* * *

"Whoa, hey! Another new kid?" one of them called out. The boy blinked at that. Did that mean...?

"Huh? Then you guys are all...?" he trailed off, prompting someone to respond, "Yeah... We're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class."

"So counting him, that makes fifteen. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone," another voice said.

' _Then... These guys must be the_ _ **Ultimates**_ ,' the brunette thought in awe. These were the **Ultimate Students** chosen by the school... Just by standing before them, the boy could feel a sort of _aura_ coming from them. Deciding to introduce himself, the boy shuffled his feet awkwardly before saying, "Um...how's it going? My name's **Makoto Naegi**. Sorry I'm late. A bunch of stuff happened, and then all of a sudden I was just...asleep." At that, a tall boy with unkempt, dark-brown dreadlocks and stubble gasped, holding a hand before his mouth.

"Whoa, you too?" the tall boy asked, looking incredibly surprised. He had on a yellow short-sleeved shirt underneath a rough, white shirt, which was also underneath an old, dark-green uniform jacket and brown _haramaki_ with yellow rope for a belt. The boy glanced around in disbelief, seemingly more than a little unnerved.

"Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser..." a girl with black hair in two large, twin-drill pigtails remarked. She had skin as pale as freshly fallen snow and wore a rather gothic ensemble. Her clothes held a very gothic lolita-style, comprised of a white blouse, a black jacket with white ribbon lining the sleeves fastened with a simple, white ribbon across her chest revealing a crimson tie with an elegant, black butterfly design, and a tiered skirt lined with white lace. She even wore a white lace mob cap atop her head and a silver, gunmetal-plated ring on her index finger.

"So strange... I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!" a rather large boy wearing glasses added, biting his nails nervously. He wore a gray cardigan with a carrot-orange necktie adorned with a blue arrow pointing upwards from the end, a white button-down shirt, dark-gray trousers and even had an orange backpack on. Makoto blinked, rather unsure of what everyone seemed to be talking about.

"Um...what are you talking about? I honestly have no idea what's going on right now," Makoto asked. Before anyone could answer him, however, a boy dressed in a white uniform with rather magnificent eyebrows cut in, shouting out, "Just a moment! There's something else we must address!" The boy dressed in white pointed an index finger at Makoto, then shouted with much energy and fervor, "Makoto! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8 AM _sharp_! To be late on your first day is _unspeakable_! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!"

At that, a girl with strawberry-blonde hair tied in neat pigtails rolled her eyes before examining her colored nails disinterestedly. She wore a black uniform with a white and black polka-dotted necktie. All in all, she seemed very stylish and fashionable and was very pretty, as well.

"What's your problem? It's not like he _wanted_ to be late. He didn't have any control over it," she sighed, sounding somewhat irritated. Makoto glanced at her rather gratefully, as it was true that he hadn't had any control over his tardiness. Another girl piped up at that, one with tanned skin and brown hair kept in a ponytail. She wore dark-blue, athletic shorts and a red tracksuit jacket over a white shirt.

"Everyone just calm down! Listen, why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves?" she suggested, her voice bubbly and energetic. From the other end of the room, a tall, muscular boy scoffed and scowled. He had dark-brown hair in an _aippa_ -style, slightly tanned skin and wore a long, black overcoat. He had on baggy, black pants held up by a belt and a white T-shirt. The boy, who looked more like a man now that Makoto got a good look, gave off a very menacing aura, like that belonging to a person no one wanted to mess with.

"'The hell!? Now's no time for friggin' introductions!" he growled, his voice tough and gravelly, just as Makoto imagined. At this, the gothic lolita girl chuckled before replying, "Perhaps, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other's names?"

"Ah, that's a good point..." a small, shy-looking girl with light-brown, layered hair and hazel eyes said. Her voice was soft and gentle, adding to the angel-like appearance she had. She wore a winter school uniform consisting of a dark-green jacket, a white shirt with a large collar secured by a green ribbon and a pleated, dark-brown mid-thigh length skirt. Upon everyone's gazes turning on her, she let out a shy squeak before meekly turning away from their gazes.

"Okay, so let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?" a girl with long, dark-blue hair dressed in a traditional, _seifuku_ -style Japanese school uniform said, her voice sweet and smooth like silk. Her uniform consisted of a white, long-sleeve shirt with a dark-blue sailor collar, large pink bow and a blue tartan skirt. The blunette kept her dark-blue eyes trained on the ceiling as she spoke, as if deep in thought. Admittedly, Makoto still felt incredibly lost, but supposed the other students were right. Introducing themselves took priority, if only to help them all sort out their thoughts and understand who they all were. So, Makoto decided to first talk to the boy in white, if only to further apologize for being late. He wasn't sure how he knew, but Makoto had a feeling that the boy in white took things such as tardiness, grades and the like very seriously.

"Um, hello! I wanted to apologize again for being late... I didn't mean to fall asleep like that. I even got here fifty minutes early just to make sure I wasn't late..." Makoto said to the boy in white. Really, how had he managed to use up all of that time?

"Yes, hello! I'm **Kiyotaka Ishimaru**. I believe in bold simplicity! Let's work together on our educational crusade!" the boy in white replied, before clamping a hand on Makoto's shoulder and laughing heartily. "No more apologizing necessary! Do your best to avoid being tardy from now on and there won't be any problems."

' _So that's Kiyotaka. According to what I saw about him on that thread... He went to a famous private school and won top honors every year. He's basically a flawless honor student... He's also known for the work he's done with his community's Public Morals Committee. They say he respects rules above all else, earning him the title of_ _ **Ultimate Moral Compass**_ ,' Makoto thought. It made sense. After all, no one would have cared more about tardiness than Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

"Anyway, you can call me Taka. You said your name was Makoto Naegi, right?" Kiyotaka responded with a somewhat stern look. Makoto nodded, albeit nervously. What did that stern look mean? Had Kiyotaka heard something bad about him? Makoto certainly hoped not... Then again, the brunette supposed that was a little over-the-top, as he hadn't done anything to warrant bad rumors about him. Makoto's fears were dispelled when Kiyotaka smiled a great, big smile and laughed heartily again, throwing his hands out.

"That's a good name, a _strong_ name! You should thank your parents for giving you such an excellent name," Kiyotaka explained. He then gave Makoto a determined expression and clenched a fist. "And to keep that name from losing its value, you must devote yourself every single day! Life is worth putting every ounce of effort into it! Right? Right!"

Makoto let out a nervous chuckle at that, slightly taken aback by Kiyotaka's enthusiasm. While the Ultimate Moral Compass certainly seemed to mean well, Makoto couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed by it... Kiyotaka was just a tad too energetic for his taste. So, Makoto waved goodbye before moving onto the closest person.

That person just so happened to be a girl with dark-purple hair kept in long braids. She wore round glasses and a black school uniform consisting of a black, long-sleeve shirt with a white sailor collar, red ribbon and a long, black skirt. She kept her gaze away from Makoto even as the boy approached, and once Makoto was close enough, muttered, "N-not that you'll remember my n-name anyway, but... I'm T-Touko... **Touko Fukawa**."

' _Yeah, she wrote a novel when she was ten that got everyone talking and launched her literary career. Then two years ago she released_ "So Lingers the Ocean _," a love story said to be her masterpiece. The book was such a hit with women that fishermen quickly shot to the top of every "Hottest Men" poll,_ ' Makoto thought, remembering what he'd learned about Touko. ' _Despite her age, she's won countless literary prizes and all her books are instant bestsellers. Which is why she's come to be known as the_ _ **Ultimate Author**_ _. What else would you call such a young and talented author? But I figured she'd be a lovey-dovey type, what with her masterpiece being a romance and all..._ '

A silence fell on the duo as Makoto stared at Touko, trying to see the "romance author" in Touko. After a while, the girl twiddled her index fingers, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"W-What? I-It's not polite to stare, you know," she said, prompting Makoto to blink. The brunette was about to apologize when the girl suddenly cried out for him to stop staring at her "like she was some filthy creature".

"F-Filthy creature? No, I just thought-" Makoto started, only to be interrupted by Touko blurting out, "I-I know what you "just" thought...! You just thought you've n-never seen such an ugly woman. You just th-thought it was sooo funny...!" Makoto tried to argue that that wasn't true, but the girl was having none of it.

"Don't bother trying to l-lie to me! I know it's true. Otherwise, you... I know you can't stand looking at me!" she cried out, pointing an index finger at Makoto accusingly. Then, she lowered her arms and looked away before saying that she was "used to it" and that she "didn't really care". By this point, Makoto was at a loss for words, so he decided to move on. After waving goodbye (which only elicited an "I knew it! You _did_ think I was ugly!" from Touko), Makoto all but ran away from the purple-haired girl, nearly colliding with the blunette who was standing a few steps away from him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized with a slight bow while scratching the back of his head. He really needed to look where he was going sometimes... The girl merely shook her head, saying that it was fine.

"I'm **Sayaka Maizono**. I look forward to getting to know you!" the blunette introduced herself with a friendly grin.

' _The way she moves is positively mesmerizing. And the pleasant scent I can't quite place... Sayaka Maizono... When I saw her name in that thread online, frankly I was pretty surprised_ ,' Makoto admitted to himself. ' _She's in a pop group famous across the country. In fact, she's their lead singer... As the_ _ **Ultimate Idol**_ _, she's in high demand to appear on TV and in magazines everywhere. But actually, that's not the only reason I was so surprised to find out she'd be going to this school. I'm sure she doesn't remember, but... Well, never mind. No matter how you slice it, she's really beautiful. Almost like a doll or something..._ '

"I'm not a doll, you know. I'm alive!" Sayaka suddenly said, prompting Makoto to blink. Had... Had he said that out loud!?

"Huh? Did you hear me!?" he asked, startled at what had happened. Sayaka gave him a serious look before replying, "I'm psychic." The reply had been so sudden and sounded so serious that Makoto had to take a moment to process what she had said. Then Sayaka gave him a friendly grin again before saying, "Kidding! I just have really good intuition."

"Huh? Hey, by any chance..." the blunette started, before trailing off, as if she had just thought of something.

"Now what?" Makoto asked, a bit exasperated. It wasn't her intuition again, was it?

"...Yeah, it must be. I'm sure of it. Hey, Makoto. Did-" Sayaka began, looking very surprised, before she was interrupted by Kiyotaka shouting that they were "wasting their valuable time". At that, Sayaka apologized, saying that she had gotten "carried away". Kiyotaka added to his statement, shouting that "self-introductions were for introducing yourself, not bumbling through a bunch of idle chit-chat". Sayaka apologized again, agreeing with Kiyotaka, albeit a bit startled from being scolded. She turned back to Makoto before apologizing and stating that they could "talk about it later" before walking away. Makoto wondered what she had wanted to talk about, but supposed it could indeed wait for later. After all, it wasn't like he would never see her again.

Next, Makoto met the **Ultimate Baseball Star** , **Leon Kuwata**. He was a boy with flashy, orange hair, a goatee and pale blue eyes, who apparently had quit baseball for good after being accepted to Hope's Peak Academy. Leon had explained that he had never even loved baseball and instead wanted to become a rockstar. That had definitely explained his clothes, dyed hair and his many piercings... It was somewhat surprising to hear, but Makoto supposed it was good that Leon had a dream he wanted to pursue. After all, Makoto still wasn't sure what _he_ wanted to do with his life...

...He met the **Ultimate Fanfic Creator** next. The Ultimate Fanfic Creator was the large boy with glasses. He had short, black hair with a pointy _ahoge_ and a very mousey face. **Hifumi Yamada** was a bit odd, with a tendency to speak very proudly about his work. While Hifumi was certainly interesting, Makoto could feel an earnest enthusiasm from Hifumi, as well as a deep passion for the work he did. Makoto supposed that was admirable, too, as Hifumi had something he truly enjoyed and put his all into.

Next came someone Makoto didn't really want to approach, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Even as all of his instincts screamed at him to run, Makoto approached the tall boy with the _aippa_ haircut and greeted him. After Makoto introduced himself, the other boy scowled as if he didn't want to do this before replying, "'Name's **Mondo Oowada**. Nice to fuckin' meetcha."

That name certainly rang a few bells in Makoto's mind. It was the name belonging to the **Ultimate Biker Gang Leader** , the current leader of the biggest gang in all of Japan. Mondo had earned respect, even _awe_ , from just about every gang in the country.

"...Umm... Nice to meet you, too," Makoto gulped, trying not to show how scared he was to be in front of Mondo. The muscular boy scratched the back of his head a few times before glancing down at Makoto and murmuring a, "Hell yeah," which Makoto then took as his ticket out of there. He waved goodbye before practically dashing off. After that, he ran into **Junko Enoshima** , the **Ultimate Model**. Junko was the girl with strawberry-blonde hair. She had slanted, amazingly-blue eyes and long eyelashes, and Makoto couldn't help but feel that she looked very different from her photos... So, when he had mentioned that, Junko had responded that they were all _photoshopped_. With dreams crushed, Makoto waved goodbye and moved on. Not too far from Junko was a girl with lavender-colored hair, purple eyes and pale complexion. She wore her hair down with one braid along the side tied with a black ribbon and had on a dark-purple, collared jacket over a white blouse and brown necktie, along with a black skirt and black gloves. She looked thoughtful with her gaze held to the side, and after a few moments of silence, Makoto piped up.

"Um... Can I ask you your name?" he asked, prompting the girl to introduce herself without even turning to look at him.

"...My name is... **Kyoko Kirigiri**."

' _She's a bit tight-lipped, huh..._? _Oh, but I never saw her name in any of the Hope's Peak Academy threads... And I did see that there were students like me... Ones who didn't have any real identity or presence. Could this girl be one of them..._?' Makoto wondered, hope alight in his heart. Still, it was highly unlikely that he would find someone else like him, even with his " **Ultimate Luck** ". So, he decided to ask her.

"Um, so...what are you doing at this school?" he said, trying to be subtle. At that, Kyoko turned to the left with a hand in her hair to keep it out of her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked after a few seconds had passed. Ah, Makoto supposed that was a bit too vague... He decided to try again, but with more explanation.

"No, I just meant... Getting invited here means you're some kind of " **Ultimate** " something, right? So what Ultimate Something are you?" he asked with a friendly grin, hoping that it would help her answer quicker. After a few more moments, she replied, "...Why should I tell you?" Makoto supposed she didn't _have_ to tell him, which Kyoko then muttered that, indeed, she didn't have to tell him and thus would not tell him. Makoto stared at her for a few more seconds before deciding to give up. Kyoko's face was akin to an iron mask, and if the girl didn't want to divulge that information, Makoto wasn't going to push harder. So, he moved on.

This time, he met the **Ultimate Programmer** , **Chihiro Fujisaki**. She seemed nice enough, albeit a little quiet. She also had a tendency to look as though she was about to burst into tears at the slightest idea that Makoto was mad at her, which, while not annoying, was a bit hard to get used to. She had a kind of "timid, bunny thing" going, as many of her fans put it, and after speaking to her a bit, Makoto felt he understood why so many fans adored Chihiro.

After Chihiro, Makoto met the **Ultimate Swimmer** , **Aoi Asahina**. She was the tanned girl wearing the red tracksuit jacket from earlier who had suggested they all introduce themselves. Just as Makoto had expected, Aoi was very friendly and energetic, although a bit forgetful. After she'd introduced herself, she admitted that she had completely forgot Makoto's name! After re-introducing himself, Aoi shouted, "Oh yeah, I knew it was something like that!"

"No, not 'something' like that, it _is_ that," Makoto replied with a sigh. Aoi smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure, sure, got it! Here, I'll hammer it into my brain right now!" Then, she kept repeating his name over and over and moving her finger across her palm as if writing something. When questioned what she was doing, she replied that if one wanted to remember a name, they had to write it three times on their palm. A few seconds later, Aoi paused and looked a bit sheepish, before asking Makoto how to spell his last name. Sure enough, Aoi was full of energy and easygoing, but Makoto had a feeling it would be a bit tiring to speak with her sometimes.

From there, Makoto met the **Ultimate Martial Artist** , **Sakura Oogami**. Sakura was a massive girl with bulging muscles and wild, white hair. She had dark, reddened skin, a scar running across her face and wore a _seifuku_ -style Japanese school uniform consisting of a white shirt, a blue sailor collar, a short, blue skirt and a red tie. All in all, she looked like a monster from a horror film... Admittedly... Makoto had no idea Sakura was a girl from first glance. He'd almost asked her if she was a man, and he was certain that he would have been turned into a human meatball if he had actually asked her that. From what he had read on the Hope's Peak Academy threads, Sakura Oogami had competed in a martial arts tournament in America and won. She'd fought in over 400 different matches and never lost a single one. Up close, Makoto could certainly believe what was said of Sakura, and he hoped to never cross her.

After her, Makoto met the **Ultimate Heir** , **Byakuya Togami**. He had combed, short dirty-blonde hair, sharp, blue eyes and wore a black suit over a white button-down and a green criss-cross tie. With an eternal sour look on his face, Byakuya was as cold and distant as the threads had said of him, but Makoto supposed he should have expected as much. After all, Byakuya Togami was the heir apparent of the Togami family's massive financial conglomerate. Even among the Ultimates at Hope's Peak Academy, Byakuya was a special one. He was the true definition of the word, "exceptional" and he was definitely out of Makoto's league... Still, Makoto had a feeling Byakuya could be befriended, with enough time spent together.

Although... Byakuya could have been a bit nicer when asking Makoto to leave... He had outright told Makoto that he was "sick of looking at him".

Next, Makoto met the **Ultimate Clairvoyant** , **Yasuhiro Hagakure**. Yasuhiro was the tall boy with dreadlocks that Makoto had heard speak up before. Makoto recalled that Yasuhiro was known as the "Supernova" of the psychic community, though the brunette wasn't too sure how much truth lied in all of it. After speaking to Yasuhiro a bit, Makoto concluded that the taller boy had an odd sense of humor, but was generally a good person. He was shocked to hear that Yasuhiro was actually _21 years old_ , something he'd learned after Yasuhiro suggested that they go for drinks sometime.

Last, but not least, Makoto met the **Ultimate Gambler**.

"I do not think we have been introduced. I am **Celestia Ludenburg** ," she had said with the slightest of smiles on her face.

"Celestia...Luden...huh?" Makoto parroted, finding it hard to believe that that was her true name. She simply smiled and clasped her fingers together innocently, replying with a, "Ludenburg. It is my name. But if you don't mind, I would prefer for you to call me Celeste."

At that, Makoto asked if she was indeed Japanese, to which Celestia answered, "Of course. Why do you ask?" while her gaze was elsewhere.

"Um, then, if you don't mind... Could you tell me your real name?" Makoto asked, still in disbelief.

"Heh-heh. I don't know what you are talking about. Celestia Ludenburg _is_ my real name. But as I mentioned, I would much rather you call me Celeste," the ravenette responded.

...Makoto was sure that "Celestia Ludenberg" wasn't her real name, but supposed it didn't matter. Sometimes people simply preferred being referred to by another name and he could respect that. Celestia was the gothic lolita girl with the black clothes. She was polite and spoke in a very formal way, though a bit forceful, especially when it came to her name. Though, Makoto knew to be careful around her... As the **Ultimate Gambler** , Celestia was also named the **Queen of Liars**. Absolutely _everything_ about her was wrapped in a veil of lies. Deception was her game and she brought it everywhere she went.

And that was all of the students present. Makoto was surprised to see so few people here, as the school was _massive_ , but supposed it was possible that different classes had orientations in different places.

"Okay, time to get down to business. This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons," Byakuya piped up, his ever-present frown never leaving his face even once.

"Oh, that's true. I think someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?" Makoto asked. Now that Byakuya had mentioned it, Makoto recalled everyone's odd reactions when he introduced himself at the start. Sayaka was the one to answer his question.

"Well, you see... Makoto, you said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were ' **just asleep** ' right? Well, the same is true for all of us," the blunette explained, looking a bit scared. Makoto's jaw nearly fell to the floor at that. They had _all_ fallen asleep? How did something like that just happen? It couldn't have been a coincidence...

"Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school! That's what happened to you right?" Leon added, prompting Makoto to nod. Indeed, that was what had happened, but...

"B-But that's just... _weird_! That every one of us would get knocked out like that..." the brunette replied.

"Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!" Mondo barked out with a clenched fist and an angry look on his face.

"And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right?" Kiyotaka said, a grim look on his face. Makoto gulped and nodded, only just remembering what the Ultimate Moral Compass was talking about. "But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What's that about!?"

"Plus, all my stuff's missing! Even my cellphone..." Junko added, looking especially annoyed as she spoke.

"Yeah, you're right. I haven't seen my PDA anywhere, either..." Chihiro furthered the statement, though her voice was just barely heard.

"And then there's the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here...!" Kiyotaka shouted. He clenched a fist and voiced what just about everyone in the room was thinking. "What the heck!? What's it doing there!?" Suddenly, Junko grew pale and began to sweat.

"What if... What if...maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know...crime or something?" the model suggested, causing the color to drain from nearly everyone's faces. Leon seemed to follow her reasoning, as he added, "What, like...a _kidnapping_? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?"

"Come on, don't think like that. Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation procedure," Yasuhiro said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So, I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit." Certainly, what he said was plausible... But Makoto had a sinking feeling in his gut that that was mere **wishful thinking**...

"Oh... So you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?" Chihiro asked, looking chipper than before.

"Huh. Well if that's all it is, it's nap time for me," Leon chuckled. "I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye."

Everyone began to murmur and agree that Yasuhiro was probably right and the tension began to slowly dissipate... At least, until **it** happened.

 ***Ding, dong, bing, bong!***

Suddenly, a TV monitor began to flicker on and a dark silhouette appeared on the screen. It was impossible to make out the figure due to the static, but the voice that followed after sounded very out of place... It was cheery and playful, while simultaneously sounding incredibly unconcerned... To Makoto, there was something outright **dreadful** about the voice. The voice was not unlike that of a person laughing at the scene of an accident...

"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...!" the mysterious voice emitted from the TV monitor. "Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at...right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. ...That's all. I'll be waiting!"

There was a pause after the TV monitor flickered off and the dreadful voice faded. Everyone was silent as they attempted to process what had happened. Junko was the first to react.

"...What. The. _Hell_ was _that_ just now?" the strawberry-blonde asked, all the color having faded from her already pale skin. Byakuya rolled his eyes before grumbling out a, "Well then, if you'll excuse me..." and leaving, presumably headed for the gymnasium. Junko looked very annoyed that Byakuya had left so abruptly.

"H-Hey! What, you're gonna take off just like that!?" she called after the Ultimate Heir, though he paid her no heed and continued onwards.

"Ohh yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank god it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was real!" Yasuhiro laughed. "Alright, guess I'll head out too. Wonder what they got planned for us next..." He, too, left the main hall, laughing all the way.

"Damn, I was totally looking forward to that nap too. Why'd they have to go and kill the mood?" Leon groaned, but did not complain any further and began to leave the area, as well. One by one the students began to head out, until only Sayaka, Junko, Kyoko, Sakura, Hifumi, Kiyotaka and Makoto were the only ones left in the main hall. Makoto had stayed back because there was this odd feeling creeping on his back, as if something was seriously wrong. And it seemed he wasn't the only one feeling this way, seeing as how some of the others had also remained in the main hall. After a moment of silence, Sayaka broke it.

"This... This doesn't seem right," she murmured, her once soft voice now filled with anxiety and distress. Makoto had to agree with her; something awfully fishy was going on, but the brunette wasn't sure what.

"Yeah, that announcement was totally weird," Junko agreed, sounding a tad perturbed.

"Maybe, but just staying put doesn't mean we'll be safe. Besides, aren't you guys just a little bit curious to find out what's going on around here?" Kyoko pointed out. Makoto supposed she was right...

"Umu. If we do not move forward, we learn nothing. The only choice is to push ahead," Sakura added.

...They were both right, but Makoto just felt so nervous...

Ah well, he didn't really have a choice. _None_ of them did.

"They said to go to the gym, right?" Makoto gulped. The others nodded and he decided to steel his resolve once again. With slightly awkward but purposeful steps, he walked down the hall to the gymnasium. That creeping feeling continued to crawl up his spine but Makoto did not stop.

Yet, if he had known what would lie ahead... He was certain he would have turned back and ran the other way.

But how could he have known that only **despair** awaited him behind those doors?


	3. Prologue Pt II: Welcome to Despair

**A/N:** Good evening, my wonderful readers! I'm **ultimate unkn0wn** and I'm back with an update! We finally meet our beloved mascot, Monokuma. Not much to say in the Author's Note this time... If you do enjoy this story, however, I'd appreciate it if you could post a review and let me know just how you feel! It'll definitely help me update faster. ;)

EDIT: Oops, nearly forgot to answer the reviews!

 **1995hzq:** In the current Arc, some of the killings will be different. I won't say any more than that, but there will be different victims and killers. In the second arc, there will be no killing whatsoever.

With that said, until next time!

 **Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.**

Any words in **bold** refer to words or names that are regarded as important.

Any dialogue in _italics_ and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.

Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE Pt. II: Welcome to Despair **💀

The room before the gymnasium was very extravagant. Red banners with the school emblem emblazoned on them hung from the ceiling, red carpet was laid out on top of the wooden floor and there was even a trophy case filled with plaques, trophies and antiques. The students had all gathered before the gymnasium doors, none brave enough to enter. Although, when Makoto looked again, he saw that not everyone was here. It seemed only the students who had stayed behind like he did in the main hall were gathered here. Were the others already in the gymnasium?

"God, I had no idea this Hope's Peak Academy place was gonna be such a _pain in my balls_. It really ain't that much different from the time I spent in juvie. Hell, this place is even _worse_!" Mondo grumbled, scratching the back of his head angrily. While most of the other students disliked his language, they had to agree with him that so far, Hope's Peak Academy was nothing like their expectations.

"And why isn't there anyone here? Walking through the halls, I didn't see a single person..." Sayaka added, looking a bit unnerved. Makoto corroborated her statement, as he, too, recalled an unusual lack of other living beings within the school. Admittedly, he hadn't really explored more of the school (his mind had been entirely focused on heading for the main hall, after all) but it was definitely odd that he didn't see even a _single_ teacher or student roaming the halls. Earlier, Makoto had attributed it to being the first day, but it seemed no one else had seen anyone, which meant the school was only inhabited by the students gathered around him at the moment.

"Uh, isn't that, like, _seriously_ not good?" Junko murmured, looking paler than normal. It seemed Kiyotaka wished to remain hopeful, however, as he insisted, "Th-They're just trying to spook us! They'll take those metal plates down later, I'm sure of it..." though his voice was very uncertain and wavered.

"Umu. All we can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Sakura stated, her voice calm and steady. It seemed she wanted to help calm the others, and sure enough, the students were beginning to relax somewhat. It was true, after all. Whatever was going on would likely be revealed by meeting whoever that voice that called them here belonged to.

"Well hell, it ain't like I'm scared or nothin'. Let's just get this over with! Hey! Where's whoever called us here!?" Mondo growled, his voice fading as he dashed to the gymnasium, flung the doors open, and entered all in under a few seconds. Kiyotaka quickly followed after the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, though to stop Mondo from running rather than anything else. Soon, Sakura, too, left for the gymnasium, with Hifumi running after out of fear.

' _I'm getting a really bad feeling about this... There's this weird feeling in my gut... It's like...that sickly surprise you feel when you're about to fall_ ,' Makoto admitted to himself with a nervous gulp. A quick glance at the students left behind told that they were also hesitant like he was. Still, they didn't have a choice. Waiting any longer would only be delaying the inevitable...

With a deep, shuddery breath, Makoto stepped towards the gymnasium doors and opened them. The doors opened with a long, winding _**CREEAAAK**_ , and light poured out into the room, nearly blinding the brunette. Once his eyes adjusted, the blinding light lessened, revealing a magnificent gymnasium with a stage at the far end. The other students were gathered inside. In front of the stage, sixteen chairs were laid out on a red carpet. There was a podium at the center of the stage and a large banner with the school emblem stitched into it hung innocently above the stage. Truly, the sight before Makoto resembled an entrance ceremony.

"Oh. It really does look like an entrance ceremony..." the brunette murmured to no one in particular. Yasuhiro waved at Makoto with a confident yet relieved look on his face.

"See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff," the Ultimate Clairvoyant laughed. Makoto chuckled along, albeit nervously. Somehow, the normalcy of the "entrance ceremony" merely highlighted just how _not_ normal the entire situation was...

The students had just relaxed when the voice from the announcement suddenly rang through the gymnasium.

"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!" the voice cackled. All heads turned to the podium on the stage where the voice originated from just as something popped up from behind the podium, landing on top of the wooden furniture. It was a... _white and black teddy bear_?

"Huh? A teddy bear?" Chihiro murmured, voicing the thought that was on everyone's minds.

"I'm not a teddy bear! I...am... **Monokuma**! And I am this school's headmaster!" the voice from earlier shouted, appearing to originate from the _bear itself_. The stuffed animal had one beady, black right eye and an eerie, red left eye in the shape of a lightning bolt. Its colors were split right through the middle, with the right side colored a pure white and the left a jet-black, save for its belly, which was also colored white. Even the bear's _mouth_ was odd, with the left side being full of pearly whites and the other as empty as space. What little teeth it had was curled in a smile, but due to the bear's chilling appearance, the smile looked more like a sneer.

"Nice to meet you all!" the bear giggled. Its voice was so out of place with its cheeriness and carefree tone... Upon hearing "Monokuma" speak, Hifumi let out a shocked scream, shouting, " _That teddy bear can talk!_ "

"Calm down! I'm sure there's a speaker inside it," Kiyotaka stated, trying to convince everyone that there was nothing to be startled about, though his equally-as-perturbed face betrayed his confident tone.

As if angered, Monokuma growled and replied, "I told you already... I'm not a teddy bear. I'm Monokuma! And I'm your **headmaster**!" It — actually, no, _he_ , as evident from the masculine tone the voice owned — angrily raised his arms and one could almost see steam come out of his ears. At this, Hifumi let out another startled shriek, this time shouting, " _Waaaaah! It moved!_ "

"Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or somethin'," Mondo growled, though, like Kiyotaka, Mondo sounded as though he was really attempting to assuage himself rather than the others. At this, Monokuma let out a sigh before placing his arms behind his back and keeping his head down.

"How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench..." he muttered, sounding rather hurt. Makoto almost felt bad for the teddy bear... At least until Monokuma seemingly bounced back and happily held his stomach as he chuckled.

"My remote control system is _so_ complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even _comprehend_ it!" Monokuma guffawed. Then he angrily raised his arms again, shouting, "Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't _BEAR_ that!"

"'Bear' that? Really? You are...unfortunate," Celestia sighed, looking a bit surprised to hear the terrible yet funny pun spout from the bear's mouth. As if disregarding that statement, Monokuma went on, exclaiming that they needed to "move on and get started". Junko interrupted him with a roll of her eyes and a rather disturbed expression, asking if he was "giving up already" and whether there would be any more bear puns. Monokuma merely told her to "quiet down".

"Umu. He has abandoned the gag..." Sakura noted, though Monokuma seemed to ignore that, as well, as he then told everyone to "stand at attention" and bow.

"Good morning!" the bear called out as he bowed. Kiyotaka followed Monokuma's orders without hesitation and belted out a loud, "Good morning!" rather enthusiastically. Touko flinched at that, letting out a shocked, "Y-You don't have to s-say it back...!" The others were just-as-visibly-startled. After all... This was nothing ordinary, and it certainly wasn't the time to be so nonchalant like Kiyotaka was!

"Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake-you few students, so full of potential, represent the **hope of the world**. And to protect such splendid hope..." Monokuma began, as though everything that was happening thus far was normal. **But the next words to come from his mouth were anything** _ **but**_ **normal.** "...You will all live a communal life together **solely within the confines of this school**. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school."

It was as if the students had all been slapped in the face at once. Makoto could scarcely believe his ears.

"Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life..." Monokuma continued on. "There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here **until the day you die**! Such is the school life you've been assigned."

' _...Huh_?' Makoto still found himself unable to comprehend the words Monokuma had spouted.

"Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die...?" Touko piped up, looking absolutely horrified. The color had drained from her already pale skin and she clasped her hands over her heart. She practically embodied how the entire group of students were feeling.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences," Monokuma added to his already-incredulous-claims. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and seemed rather nonchalant, as if the words he had said were all normal and average.

"That's the least of our worries right now!" Sayaka shouted, her fear clearly present on her face. Even Junko was in disbelief, as sweat dripped down her face profusely. She even questioned if this was all just a joke, saying, "Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?"

Monokuma's reaction was instant. He let out an angry growl and raised his arms dramatically again.

"I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure," he answered. "Ah, and just for your information...you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!"

"Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school..." Makoto began, having realized something. "They're there...to keep us _trapped_ in here?"

"That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help...help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!" Monokuma laughed in response, a cheery, relaxed grin on his face.

"Come on, what the hell is this? I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke," Leon started, his skin having begun to blanch like the others. The truth of the matter was beginning to sink in, and so was the fear. Still, the students tried to cling to that final hope that, maybe, juuuust maybe, this was all a terrible joke...

Mondo let out an angry shout, telling Monokuma to "cut this shit out" and that the joke wasn't funny anymore. The bear harrumphed angrily back, huffing about how the students were all skeptics for not believing that this was their reality.

"But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth, upupupu!" the toy bear giggled, his high-pitched voice sounding even more eerie as he laughed at this hellish situation...

"Having to live here forever would be...quite the problem," Celestia muttered. It seemed that even _she_ was displeased by this fact.

"Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?" Monokuma suddenly remarked, tilting his head to the side quizzically. Then, he straightened up, as if he had remembered something. "Oh but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There _is_ one way for you to leave the school..."

"R-Really...?" Touko asked, looking shocked, but hopeful.

"As headmaster, I've crafted a **special clause** for those of you who would like to leave! I call it...the **Graduation Clause**!" Monokuma continued, again speaking nonchalantly, as if the news were ordinary. "Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the **Graduation Clause**!"

"What do you mean by ' **disrupt the harmony** '? Speak clearly!" Byakuya scowled, looking just as irritated by Monokuma's skirting around the point as everyone else felt. At that, the bear gave the group of students the most bloodcurdling giggle they had heard yet.

"Upupupu... Well, you know... If one person were to **murder** another."

"M- _Murder_!?" Makoto yelled, unsure if he had heard right, yet he was certain that that was what Monokuma had said.

"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. **You must kill someone if you want to leave.** It's as simple as that," Monokuma stated matter-of-factly. "The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible."

A chill shot down Makoto's spine... " _You must kill someone if you want to leave."_ As soon as the brunette heard those words, his blood went cold.

"Upupupu. I bet _that_ got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the **hope** of the world. But you know... Taking that **hope** and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of **despair**. And I just find that so...darn...exciting!" Monokuma shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is...It's!" Leon cried out, his voice cracking somewhat from his fear and shock.

"To kill each other is to kill each other. I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it," Monokuma replied, having interpreted Leon's cries as cries of confusion.

"We know what it means, that's not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?" Aoi answered back, clenching a fist defiantly.

"Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!" Hifumi added to that statement, shouting with all his might.

"...Blabbering?"

Monokuma couldn't understand why the students seemed to struggle so much at understanding their situation.

"Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it do you? 'Let us go, let us go!' You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your _world_. Got it?" the bicolored-bear growled. "And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!"

"Alright, come on... How long are you gonna keep this up?" Yasuhiro piped up this time, sounding rather exasperated. Monokuma blinked.

"You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now," the Ultimate Clairvoyant explained with a confident grin.

"'Reveal the trick'?" Monokuma parroted, rather befuddled about what Yasuhiro was talking about.

"Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like..." the brunette replied, looking somewhat thoughtful. By this point, Mondo had had enough. The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader stepped up and shoved Yasuhiro out of his way before howling, "Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke _is_ this!?"

"Joke? What, you mean like your hair?"

Monokuma's response had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Mondo let out a furious roar, then there was a loud _BOOM!_ emanating from the floorboards where the biker had kicked off from. Launching through the air, Mondo practically _flew_ at Monokuma and grabbed the bear, lifting him into the air where Monokuma flailed his limbs.

"Gotcha, you little piece of shit! I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!" Mondo yowled, spittle flying from his mouth as he angrily shook Monokuma to-and-fro.

"Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!" the bear cried, still flailing his limbs uselessly.

"Shut the fuck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ..." Mondo growled, shaking the bear again when Monokuma suddenly fell limp. A faint beeping could be heard from the bear, though Mondo paid it no heed.

"What, no smartass comeback this time!?" the biker asked after Monokuma continued to remain silent. "Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!"

Then, Kyoko shouted out, "Watch out! Get rid of it!" much to everyone's surprise. The beeping grew faster, rapidly increasing in tempo. "Hurry up and throw it!" Mondo clicked his tongue, slightly irritated that a girl was giving him orders, but decided it might be best. He flung Monokuma through the air, watching as the bear scaled high above the group's heads...

 _Until the bear was ripped apart by an explosion accompanied by a humongous_ KABOOM!

"The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up..." Mondo was the first to react and he looked terrified.

"Ah, but you know... This means the teddy bear's been destroyed... Right?" Chihiro piped up, hoping to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, she was proven wrong when a familiar face popped up once again from behind the podium on stage.

"I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!"

"Uwah! There's another one...?" Leon drew back, having hoped, like the others, that the bear truly was destroyed.

"You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!" Mondo growled, the blood draining from his face for the first time since he'd entered the gymnasium.

"Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt," Monokuma growled back, even going so far as to unsheathe his razor-sharp claws in his anger.

"H-Hey... So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you around here somewhere?" Junko suddenly asked, catching everyone's attention.

"Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right? Upupupu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!" Monokuma responded with a cheery giggle.

"Th-That's not even punishment. That's just...wrong..." Aoi said, horrified.

"Now then, lastly..." Monokuma continued on, having chosen to ignore Aoi. "To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you..." He pulled out a sleek, black smartphone-like device and showed it off to the students. The device's screen was lit up and showed a blue background with a faint Hope's Peak emblem emblazoned on it.

"This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The **e-Handbook**! ...Ahem. Yes, well, moving on... This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one!" the bear explained. "Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our **school regulations** , so make sure you review them thoroughly!"

With that said, Monokuma went on about how while the rules were strict, they served to "protect" the students and that it would be utter chaos without them. It seemed then that he had nothing more to say, as he concluded the entrance ceremony and told the students to "enjoy their abundantly dreary school life". He then waved goodbye and jumped off of the podium, disappearing behind it.

Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he had left, and the room wasn't the only thing he'd left behind. The students gathered to discuss what had just occurred, but it seemed most of them were just as lost, confused and terrified.

"Everyone, we need to just calm down. First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have **two choices**. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a 'communal life' together until the day we die. And the other choice is..." Kyoko began, though she trailed off at the end and allowed Celestia to finish her thought.

"If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?" the ravenette said, not quite meeting anyone's gaze.

"But...killing someone... That's..." Chihiro whimpered, tears welling in her eyes at the mere thought of it.

"We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is... This is...this is just...! What _is_ this!?" Hifumi cried, biting his fingernails nervously.

"A lie, is what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!" Kiyotaka answered, still in disbelief that the "killing school life" was indeed a reality.

"Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake. What matters is..." Byakuya began, his voice calm and composed. He had kept his gaze somewhere else for the duration of the entrance ceremony, but now turned to face the group.

"Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?"

...There was no response. No one could find any words to speak. They all stared at one another, trying to gauge each other's thoughts. Makoto could almost _taste_ the hostility. And that was when it truly hit him. He had finally realized the true terror hidden within the rules Monokuma had laid out.

 **"You must kill someone if you want to leave."**

Those words had planted vicious thoughts deep within each of them. Instead of friendly gazes, all they could see when they faced each other were suspicious stares. The students were forced to wonder, **"Is somebody going to betray us?"**

And that was how Makoto's new school life began... This school, which had come out of nowhere to raise his hopes so high... It is _not_ **a school of hope**.

In reality, it is...

A **school of despair.**


End file.
